Drug regulator cancels licence of 8 pharmacies

In a bid to ensure public safety and curb the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs, the Jammu and Kashmir Government has launched a special enforcement drive across the Union Territory, targeting pharmacies and drug outlets for compliance with legal and regulatory standards.

Officials said that during the drive, officers of the Drug and Food Control Organisation (DFCO) carried out surprise inspections at various locations across the districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The objective of the initiative was to identify pharmacies operating in violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and to strengthen mechanisms to prevent the unauthorised sale of psychotropic substances and prescription medicines.

Notably, the inspection teams cancelled the drug sale licences of eight pharmacies for failing to maintain sale records of habit-forming drugs and for not adopting a computerised billing system to record sales, according to an official statement.

The statement further said that operations of 75 retail sale establishments were disallowed on the spot under Section 22(d) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, for reasons including lack of sale records, impersonation and improper storage conditions.

These included nine establishments each in Jammu, Rajouri and Anantnag; six each in Kupwara and Budgam; five each in Udhampur and Kulgam; four in Pulwama; three each in Kathua, Samba, Ramban, Doda, Baramulla and Shopian; two in Poonch; and one each in Reasi, Kishtwar, Srinagar, Ganderbal, Ramban and Kathua.

Statutory drug samples of over 500 formulations from various categories were randomly lifted for determination of strength and purity. These were sent to drug testing laboratories located within J&K for legal assessment of their quality parameters.

Additionally, stocks of drugs worth Rs 8,40,348, found to be in contravention of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, were confiscated from the supply chain by the organisation’s regulatory officers under Section 23 of the Act.